Monday, December 21, 2009

Lok Sabha, has finally passed the Trademark (Amendment) Bill 2009, on the 18th of December, 2009. The bill will now be sent to the Rajya Sabha - which should hopefully have a more insightful debate on the proposed amendments. Once it is passed by the Rajya Sabha the bill become an Act of Parliament. The Trademark (Amendment) Bill, 2009 was originally introduced into Parliament as the Trademark (Amendment) Bill, 2007. The 2007 bill lapsed because of which it had to be re-introduced in July this year, the Amendment Bill aims to simplify the trademark registration process by enforcing the Madrid Protocolwhich is a cost-effective system for international registration of trademarks, enables nationals of its member countries to obtain trademark registration within 18 months by filing a single application with one fee and one language in their country of origin. This in turn is transmitted to other designated countries.